[kwlug disc.] 'Blackberries make you stupid!'

[Unsolicited]

 > I had a cell for a period, and hated it.  Instead of being constantly

FWIW, I would have agreed with you at one point in time.

Then, I think it was, voice, instant messaging, text messaging, 
blackberry, e-mail to phone, pager, came together for me as 
'communication to an individual', as opposed to an address.

[It didn't help that I'm 24x7 support when something really serious 
drops for the call centre.]

I may get a 'page' on the cell, but I seldom return it that way.

The reverse has proven true as well. Someone I care about who needs 
me, and vice versa, doesn't have to try work, home, umpteen other 
potential numbers I could be at, whatever - communicate to the cell 
and I'll return it via whatever means is convenient to me at the time. 
If I'm not tied up.

Given the plethora of lines of communications, particularly now with 
VoIP, I think I'll be extending the paradigm. Not just communication 
to an individual, but to an individual wearing a particular hat at the 
time (home, work, professional, family). Such division wasn't 
practical 'yesterday', given the need for a device per hat, but VoIP 
may be enticing in that multiple numbers can be directed to the same 
Asterisk, and it can 'page' to the same phone which hat was called, 
from whom.

Tantalizing.

Also tantalizing is the idea of one stop shopping for contacts, 
calendar, e-mail, whatever, and each device pulls from a single 
repository what you want it to. As opposed to today's situation of 
every device being incompatible with every other device, or at least 
needing the same data massaged in a different way.

MythTV, Asterisk, Open Groupware - the repository will come under _my_ 
control, not the provider's.

</rant>

Donald Tees wrote, On 2/27/2007 9:24 PM:
> Andrew Kohlsmith wrote:
>> On Tuesday 27 February 2007 8:42 pm, Unsolicited wrote:
>>  
>>> I have long hated the idea of carrying a cell. Hated even more the
>>> idea of carrying two things. So I get a LifeDrive. Then a cell. Go 
>>> figure.
>>>     
>>
>> That's exactly how it happened with me... Palm then Cell, then 
>> Palm+Cell and Cell (Treo and TX).
>>
>>   
> I have neither,  but then I have no car or television, either.
.
.
.
  > Donald